Our Best 2017 Double Wide Remodel Ideas

Energy bill got you down?
Need to freshen things up a bit?
Or maybe spring cleaning has you thinking about some new storage space?

Sounds like it’s time for a mobile home makeover, or maybe even a remodel. If you’re looking for some good ideas to cut down on costs, reduce the clutter, or make your home more inviting, then look no further. Here are some double wide remodel ideas that can be applied to any mobile home.

If you scour the internet, you’ll find that the blog-o-sphere is filled with posts about remodeling. You can find pictures of entire mobile home remodels, elegant descriptions of just how to get “the look” and even expert opinions that point out the best-looking features.

A few blogs in and maybe you’re beginning to think, “That is so cool! I wonder if I could do that?” Pages later and you’re wondering why you ever thought that in the first place.

Out of the misty cloud of information, we hope this article will give some clarity and a few solid starting points. We’ve outlined, in this room-by-room guide, some simple, practical DIY projects that will get your mobile home remodel moving forward. As they say, great things have small beginnings.

Why remodel your home?

People choose to remodel or “makeover” their homes for many different reasons. Perhaps some of these will help motivate you and get you moving in the right direction.

Remodeling your mobile home can:

Make it more appealing and comfortable

Keep your space more organized.

Increase energy efficiency.

Make it more eco-friendly.

Here are just a few ideas to get the wheels turning for the upcoming spring cleaning fever you’re sure to get….

Bathroom Remodel Ideas

You can find a bunch of remodeling ideas across the internet. Places like Bob Villa’s website has a bunch of resources that are sure to get those creative juices flowing. The problem is, far too often they are not DIY ideas unique to double wide mobile homes or even mobile homes in general. So make sure to check that the material they are working with is the same material you need.

Photo Credit: Bobvila.com

Bathroom Sink Painting Idea:

In addition to all you can do with wall colors and pallet changes, did you know you can do fairly simple things to spruce up the most needed areas of your house? Like this tutorial on painting bathroom sinks.

Trying to bring those “winds” of change to your bathroom? Is that 80’s sink teal sink not quite meshing with your bathroom decor? How about painting it!

Supplies:

Basic Basin Wrench

White Paint (Epoxy)

Cleaner

Steel Wool

Sponge

Paint Brush

Ventilation Mask

It takes three simple steps:

Remove the faucet.

Clean the surface.

Paint.

Bathroom Faucet Painting:

It will take you three coats of epoxy and a little patience. Over at Ciburbanity they have a detailed step by step guide to get this project done!
If you go with above project, why stop with the sink? Level up those faucets as well! Add some classy age to your restroom by changing your chrome hardware to an elegant brass…at least make it look that way.

Image Credit: sincerelysarad.com

Even if you are not painting or swapping out your sink, just painting your faucet can make a big difference in the overall feel of your bathroom countertop.

Kitchen Remodel Ideas

With most mobile homes the kitchen countertops is wood with a laminate on top. This might do the job for most people, but you are not most people, right?

Kitchen Counter Makeover:

If you are looking for something more than slapping on a new laminate, but also not wanting to buy brand new countertops, maybe you should consider…concrete! That’s right, concrete. It has become a popular method used in many double wide mobile homes and a growing number of stick built.

The Beautiful Mess will guide through the whole process, with all the applying, sanding, applying, sanding, and so on. Add a whole new feel to your kitchen by converting your laminate countertops to concrete.

How about some racing stripes for your floor?

Photo Credit: istotic.com

From the counters to the floor, change a comin’. White linoleum floors are pretty common for mobile homes. If you are like many others, all that white starts to feel really sterile, like a hospital!

But, who wants to take up the time to rip up the old linoleum? A quicker, easier, and cheaper option is to just paint your floor.

Supplies:

Behr Porch and Patio Paint

A High-Traffic Crystal-Clear Finish

Painter’s Tape

Paint Rollers

You can use any color that suits your fancy or matches the color scheme of the rest of your kitchen. You are not limited to painting only striped patterns like the example picture. You could do a checkered pattern or just paint the whole thing!

No matter your chosen color or pattern, this blog will help you make your mobile home’s kitchen floor seem new.

Eye-level Addition Makes The Whole Room Change

Image Credit: prettyhandygirl.com

If you are wanting to add to the looks of your kitchen, but also would like your remodel to add to the usefulness of the space, you should think about adding some shelves.

Putting up shelves is not a completely revolutionary idea, but how about putting them somewhere fun. The glass window.

Supplies:

3/16 inch tempered glass

Quarter round molding

Paint (whatever color matches or coordinates with your cabinets)

Paint brush (medium size)

Painter’s tape

Hammer

Level

Drill w/drill bits

Finish nails 1.25″ long

Nail set

Wood putty or caulk

Flat toothpick or shim

Here is a detailed step-by-step guide by Pretty Handy Girl for installing these shelves. More surface, more space, more usefulness, and more pleasant on the eyes.

Kitchen Island Redesign

Some mobile homes do not come with an island in the kitchen. Double wide homes are more likely to have the room for one. But with a little bit of creativity, you can make one work anywhere. Adding a kitchen island would change the look of your kitchen and make the space more useful for storage and having guests over.

Depending on your budget for remodeling, there are many different styles that you can purchase. Or if you are the handy type, you can create your own island all the way from a simple four-legged style to something more elaborate.

Over at Blissfully Domestic, they have 8 different DIY island ideas, like building an island from scratch using repurposed wood and refurbishing a rolling cart. Each idea varies concerning the difficulty level, so pick the challenge you are up for!

Some Honorable Mentions

Have ever thought, “I wish I have new kitchen cabinets,” or maybe, “these cupboards are so old looking!” You are not alone in this lament. But there is a way deal with this tragic woe. Paint them puppies!

Here is a blog that has tips and tricks to painting your cupboards from multiple professional painters. It is definitely a much more difficult project than painting walls, but if done well, it can be totally worth the sweat!

Living Room Remodel Concepts

Making Fans of Your Fans

You can do a lot with those old ceiling fans. Just spread a little love and elbow grease with some great design ideas and you will be on your way to a brand new looking cieling fan.

Image Credit: listotic.com

Painting your ceiling fans is a quick and easy way to add an extra depth to the room. You can paint the blades, and even the hardware for that matter, any color you want. Make what can often be an unattractive eyesore into a piece that will add to the beauty of your home, whether cooling you off or not!

Give Your Window an Edge

Windows are designed to do more than just keep the cold out. They are a main component of a health home. They draw light in or block it out. It all depends on what window treatment you have.

Image Credit: angelosattic.com

Try adding some trim or molding to the top of your window. Doing this will add depth to the room, as well as conceal the bunched blinds when you pull them up to let some light in.

Let there be light!

A can of spray paint and some common brass color can quickly turn to a dynamic new light in your mobile home. You can always by new hardware but where is the fun in that?

Image Credit: listotic.com

As seen in the picture above, you can make a huge improvement to the aesthetics of the room by replacing what has been informally referred to as a “boob light.”

The key to this fixture update is finding a lamp shade that fits the style and theme of your of your living room, although this little change in decor will be possible wherever one of those rounded lights are found in your house. Check out this walkthrough for help.

However, if you like the style of those light fixtures, but just want to change them to a more rustic theme, then here is another idea you could use:

Image Credit: onehundreddollarsamonth.com

This one involves taking down the light fixture and using bronze spray paint. Simply let it dry after painting it, put it back in place, and you will have an elegant looking lighting fixture.

In case there are any snags, or you come across a step you are not sure of, please refer here.

A Beautiful Circulation

If there is one thing that is a bane in the existence for those who care about the looks of their mobile home, its those darn air registers. White sheets of metal drilled into your wall at so obvious places.

Those registers are necessary, so what can we do about them? This might be our answer:

Supplies:

Sheet metal (the pattern of the sheet metal used in the picture is called Union Jack)

Friendly-Home has a walkthrough on this DIY project. It includes some excellent tips, such as; drying the painted grills on blocks of wood instead of paper, ways to make the project less permanent (for later updates or changes).

Now your air grille can actually add to the beauty of your room, as well as still retain its full functionality. Win-win I’d say.

Laundry Room Remodel

Perhaps with long narrow spaces, this might feel like an impossible challenge, but this blogger shows how she utilized all the angles to make this the “cleanest” project you’ve seen! Read more here.

Pantry Remodel

A very functional area to remodel would be kitchen closet/pantry. Simply adding some extra storage space will decrease the clutter in your other rooms, which means you will have a more free area to upgrade and remodel in the rest of your home.
Check out a recent blog post we did on creative storage ideas or mobile homes. One remodel mainly for usefulness makes space for many remodels focusing on making your home more beautiful.

Lighting, Utilities, Energy

Install new windows (bigger, brighter)

Solar panels
Did you know that mobile homes tend to use twice as much energy for heating and cooling? That also means you could be paying twice as much in utilities! What can be done?

One option is installing solar panels! This would provide you with an alternative source for energy, saving you money on your energy bill.

Here is a video on the various benefits of solar panels:

And another on documenting the installation of solar panels on someone’s home:

Decor/Style Remodel

Add crown molding
This is an easy DIY project that will immediately add sophistication to the look of your home. This link provides the directions to cutting and installing the crown molding. All you need to do is pick the style of your moulding and decide where you will place it.

Perhaps you can’t afford to replace your interior doors entirely, but never fear, you can still update your look. Here are two fabulous ways to makeover your doors. After you finish, you may be inspired to keep right on going throughout the rest of your house. What’s next? The walls, the windows?

Paint over paneling
Older mobile home models tend to have paneled walls. The paneled walls also tend to be a pain when remodeling. One of the reasons is that they have grooves which make it hard to paint. See this link on painting over paneling.

Do not lose hope, though! Here are the steps you can take to get those walls nice and evenly colored:

Get rid of the gloss on the paneling by sanding lightly. This will allow the paint to adhere to the wood instead of the gloss finish.

Remove any dust by wiping the wood with a damp cloth.

Fill in the paneling grooves with joint compound, then allow it to dry.

If you see gaps or holes in the compound, you may wish to apply a second or third layer.

Once the joint compound is dry, use 100-grit sandpaper to remove any bumps or excess compound. It is important that the paneling has a smooth finish.

Repeat step two to remove dust.

Apply a shellac-based, stain-blocking primer to prepare the paneling for paint.

Use a roller to evenly apply your paint. The nap of the roller will determine the thickness of the texture. We recommend you apply at least two coats.

Now that you have a few ideas to remodel your mobile home, we hope you’ll be inspired to try them out.